With the 2016 election in less than two weeks, celebrities—even those who aren’t U.S. citizens—are endorsing candidates and urging Americans to vote, causing one of them to get a familiar and unfavorable comparison.
Emma Watson, who has been keeping an eye on the election from afar, can’t vote in the election. But the actress, U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador, and outspoken advocate for gender equality is using her voice to urge others to vote. Her message, posted on Twitter, was especially geared toward women. Through thinly veiled references to Donald Trump (though she never named him), she noted that women have the potential to swing this election.
“The next president will be able to make decisions about women, about their bodies, about how they are treated at work, on university campuses and at school, about how men treat women and about their rights as citizens,” Watson wrote. “These decisions affect how young people form their ideas of gender. These decisions will affect whether we believe equality is an idea that matters.”
— Emma Watson (@EmmaWatson) October 25, 2016
In response, Stephen Colbert praised Watson’s message and then compared Trump to Voldemort, which has become increasingly common despite J.K. Rowling’s insistence that Voldemort “was nowhere near as bad” as Trump. Hermione Granger didn’t go through seven books’ worth of hardship for this.
Emma Watson wrote a note urging Americans to vote. She didn't spend her childhood fighting a dark lord so we could elect one.
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) October 26, 2016
The secret weapon to defeating Voldemort is love—and voting, apparently.